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Probe Entertainment
Background Probe Entertainment (first known as "Probe Software" from 1984 until 1995) was a British video game developer founded in 1984 by Fergus McGovern (who later founded another video game developer, HotGen Studios). On October 10, 1995, it was acquired by Acclaim Entertainment. In Spring 1999, it was renamed to "Iguana London" for a while before it was renamed to "Acclaim Studios London" a few months later like the other Studios that were part of Acclaim. It was responsible for porting Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II for game systems except for SNES (Which were done by Sculptured Software) and developing Extreme-G and Extreme-G 2 for Nintendo 64. They were also well known for successful licensed games like Die Hard Trilogy and Alien Trilogy. The company was renamed Acclaim Studios Cheltenham in 2000. 1st logo (1991-1992) Nicknames: "Probe Bevel", "The Shiny Rectangular Probe Shield" Logo: Against a black BG, we see a rectangular 3D-side shield of purple with "probe" on it. "A" and "PRODUCTION", in white, are shown above and below the logo, respectively. Variant: On Smash T.V. for Game Gear and Master System, it is a bit smaller with "Of" added below "Production". FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game. Availability: Probably the only place to see this logo fullscreen is Smash T.V. for Genesis. It was also spotted on OutRun Europa (not the Amiga version), but placed in the corner of title screen. Scare Factor: None. 2nd logo (1991-1995) Nicknames: "Probe Bevel II", "The Shiny Rectangular Probe Shield II", "The Crystalized Rectangular Probe Shield" Logo: Against a black BG, we see a slab of bluish-green stone with "probe" carved out of it in a curvy black font. The letter "r" is different than in the first logo. "A" and "DEVELOPMENT" or "PRODUCTION", in white, are shown above and below the logo, respectively (the font used varies depending on the game). Sometimes, the logo shines. Variants: *On it's early days, the logo is in a purple color, has a shiny look, doesn't have a border part and has the shines around the word, "probe". *On Alien 3 for the NES, it is much smaller, is shown at the top of the screen, and "PRODUCTION" replaces "DEVELOPMENT". *On Alien 3 for the Genesis and Amiga, the bottom says, "PRODUCTION OF" in stacked words. *On some Game Gear games like Bram Stoker's Dracula and Stargate, "A" and "DEVELOPMENT" are absent. *On OutRun Europe for Amiga, the early version of the logo is colored blue, plus there's the word "SOFTWARE" below. *The logo is smaller on some Game Gear games. *On Mortal Kombat II for PC, the logo morphs into the MK Dragon logo. Plus, "A" and "DEVELOPMENT" are absent. *On NHL '95 for Game Boy, the background is white. *On FIFA International Soccer for Game Boy, the logo zooms out into it's position and the logo shines. The words, "A" and later, "DEVELOPMENT" appear above and below the logo respectively. The logo stops shining after it forms. FX/SFX: The shining. Sometimes, none. Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game. Availability: Seen on Probe games from the time period. Especially, the Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis and Amiga ports of Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 and the Game Boy, Game Gear, and Genesis versions of Primal Rage. The early version appears on it's games from the era such as Back to the Future Part III and the Sega Master System version of Alien 3. Scare Factor: None. 3rd logo (Primal Range Variant)(1995) Nicknames: "The Red Ring", "The Probe Ring", "The Probe Temple" Logo: We start inside of some waving bush leaves, then move forward, passing some animal's skull, and stopping near to an ancient temple. The ark inside of the temple is hit by a lightning, it enlights to anProbe Entertainment (1995) orange color and we see the word "probe" written on it (see the 4th logo). A red circular line appears, and the ark fades. FX/SFX: The waving bushes, but it's cheap. Cheesy Factor: One of the cheesiest game company logos ever produced. Just to count absolutely plain and poor environment, 70's styled effects and the total absence of the idea in the sequence. Music/Sounds: None. Availability: Seen on Primal Rage for PlayStation, Saturn and 3DO. Scare Factor: Low, due to the extreme cheapness of the logo. 4th logo (1995-1996) Nicknames: "The Red Ring II", "The Probe Ring II", "The Shiny Ring" Logo: The word "probe" is written in white italics, with "ENTERTAINMENT" in capital letters below. Around the "o" letter, there is a red tilted aura circle-like ring making the reflection on the letter "r". Variants: *On Primal Rage for Jaguar, the "ENTERTAINMENT" is red, and the ring is blue. *On Mortal Kombat II for Saturn, a simple version is used, with light flash rendered as a star. *On FIFA Soccer 96 for Game Boy (When emulated on Super Game Boy) and Game Gear, the logo is even more simpler, completely in red. Plus, "ENTERTAINMENT" is white. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None. Availability: Simple versions are seen on FIFA Soccer '96 for Game Boy and Game Gear and Mortal Kombat II for Saturn. The advanced version is seen on Primal Rage for Jaguar CD and Sega 32X. The small version can be seen on Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble for Genesis and Game Gear and NHL '96 for Game Boy. Scare Factor: None. 5th logo (1995-1998) Nicknames: "The Red Ring III", "The Probe Ring III", "The Circles/Word Transformation" Logo: On a black background, 5 circles zoom out and place themselves in the middle of the screen. A red ring also zooms out, leaving a residue trail as it goes along, and white streaks zoom over the circles to turn them into the word "probe". The same logo is formed as the previous one, but without any light. Variants: *On the PSX, the logo moves at such a fast pace that it only covers 1/2 of the music. On the Sega Saturn, it is much slower (as seen in the video). *On the PC version of Judge Dredd, the words "A" and "PRODUCTION" appear above and below the logo respectively when the logo forms. *There is a still version of the logo. *On Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble and the Game Boy version of NHL '96, the still logo is small. FX/SFX: The circles, the red ring, and the streaks. Cheesy Factor: Mostly choppy 2D animation. Music/Sounds: A funky disco tune that continues after the logo fades out. Music/Sounds Variants: *On the PlayStation version of Alien Trilogy and on the still versions, it is silent. *On Judge Dredd, the game's title screen music is heard. Availability: Seen on the Die Hard Trilogy, Fantastic Four, Alien Trilogy, Bubble Bobble featuring Rainbow Islands and Jeremy McGrath Supercross '98. The still version can be seen on some games such as WWF War Zone for Game Boy and Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble. Scare Factor: Low for the Saturn version, because the music could startle some people, and medium for the PlayStation version, as it moves so fast that it could catch you off guard. None for the silent variant. 6th logo (Batman Forever Variant)(1995) Logo: The Probe logo, designed like the previous ones, is seen in 3D and silver colors. The "ENTERTAINMENT" word emits light rays. Plus, the red ring is absent. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None. On the SNES version, the game's menu theme is heard. Availability: Seen only on Batman Forever. Scare Factor: None. 7th logo (1997-1999) Nickname: "The Probe Arc" Logo: On a black background, the Probe logo is now in other custom 3D font. The first and last letter of "probe" spread long ends to the sides. The word "ENTERTAINMENT" is in stretched bold font below the word "probe". There is also a big arc covering the logo, changing its red color to white (with gradient effect). Variants: *On Bust-a-Move 2 for N64 and Forsaken, the logo is crystal on silver background, the word "ENTERTAINMENT" is not in bold and in the different font, and the arc ends with light flash. *On Extreme-G for N64, the "probe" word appears spinning and zooms out, while the flying probe vessel draws an arc then the word, "ENTERTAINMENT" wipes in under "probe", but not spaced-out. Shortly after the logo forms, the vessel flies into the camera. *On Extreme-G 2, the "probe" word is created by a running car. Then the UFO draws a rainbow-colored arc while the word, "ENTERTAINMENT" wipes in, forming the logo shortly before the UFO flies away. *On the beta version of Re-Volt, The UFO flies out of the Acclaim logo, then onto a wooden floor and creates the arc as the Probe logo slams down, the UFO stops, and 2 RC cars in the game push it away. FX/SFX: Depending on variant. But generally, none. Cheesy Factor: The Extreme-G versions looks choppy, like the most of video tracks on N64. Music/Sounds: None for still versions and the Re-Volt variant. Various object noises on the Extreme-G 2 variant. On Extreme-G, the game's title music is heard. Availability: Seen on X-Men: Children of the Atom for PlayStation. The Re-Volt variant was originally extinct, as it had been removed when Probe changed its name to Acclaim Studios London, but is now Uncommon, as it had been found and was brought back by the developers of the fan made 1.2 patch for the game and appears in the said patch for Re-Volt. Scare Factor: None. 'Iguana London' (1999) Nicknames: "The Iguana", "Killer the Iguana" Logo: Against the green iguana skin textured background we see the Iguana logo of the time with the word, "LONDON" in spaced-out letters in place of "ENTERTAINMENT" and it has the glow rays effect around it. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None. Availability: Only appears on the first demo of Re-Volt for PC. Scare Factor: None. 'Acclaim Studios London' (1999-2000) Nicknames: "Acclaim Studios Iguana", "The Iguana II", "Killer the Iguana II" Logo: A usual Acclaim Studios logo, used for all studios during the era. The word "LONDON" is written in vertical font to the right. (See also the Iguana logo for more information.) Variant: On Armorines: Project Swarm, the background is custom blue. FX/SFX: None. Music/Sounds: None. The game's title theme for Armorines. Availability: Seen on Re-Volt. Scare Factor: None. Category:Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. Category:Video Games Category:Defunct